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Winter's Pause

Happy
Fix is headquartered in North Carolina, which is an incredibly diverse
place both people-wise and geographically. The state is over 500 miles
wide (actually, it’s the widest state east of the Mississippi) reaching
from the Great Smoky and Blue Ridge Mountains in the west to the
Atlantic Ocean in the east. Weather-wise, even though we’re a southern
state which is classified as a warm temperate zone, the different
regions within the state can still experience a taste of all four
seasons, even seeing an average of five inches of snow in winter.

Guess what? Today it snowed.

That’s
a big deal down here, although I can hear my friends and family in
places like Chicago, Colorado, Vermont and New York laughing as they
scoff at the notion and roll their eyes. In places like that, snow is a
part of life, and at times (well okay, most of the time) it can be a
hassle during the day-to-day.

Here in The Old North State,
though, it’s a celebration. Families with little kids start roaming the
neighborhood pulling plastic sleds, people are out taking photographs,
and dogs are out sniffing, tasting, and playing in the fat white flakes.

Everything
seems to stop, if only for a moment, as people choose to stray from
their routines and take some time to enjoy their surroundings and the
people they are with.

It’s timely that this snowfall comes at a
time when people are sifting through their New Year’s resolutions to
make improvements in their physical and mental well-being. One of the
benefits of the whole concept of such resolutions is to take a moment to
stop and look at one’s life: where are we with our health, our
relationships, our spirituality, our jobs and fiscal situations? No
matter what specific resolutions are made, they all filter down to
finding ways to make our lives better which, in turn, betters the lives
of those around us.

The tricky part of this attempt at personal
introspection for many people is to implement ways to change in order to
avoid getting dragged down by concentrating the negative aspects of
their lives that they feel need improving. For whatever reason, dwelling
on negativity seems easier than celebrating the positives within
ourselves. Continuing to focus over and over on physical and emotional
issues you are dealing with, or perceived injustices within
relationships is called rumination. It basically refers to being stuck
in a cycle of negativity, spinning your wheels without getting anywhere.

Researchers at places like Yale University who’ve studied
rumination show it leads to deeper depression which lasts longer. (Sorry
women, research shows you are more likely to ruminate than men.) This
depression keeps people from dealing with their issues and making
substantive changes in their lives.

One of the key findings of
this research is that many individuals who ruminate actually think they
have no choice in the matter.

This is where Happy Fix comes in.

What
we’re trying to do is help people understand that they do indeed have a
choice in improving their lives. No matter if you’re just an average
Joe with normal, everyday challenges, or if you have some extreme
circumstances, you still have the freedom to choose to improve your
life.

That’s really the first step, regardless of how easy or
difficult the road to improvement: making the choice to live a positive
life. What comes after, i.e. how you get from point A to point B can
vary, but making that choice to stop ruminating and move forward will
change your life for the better.

Throughout 2016, we’ll be rolling-out new educational programming and inspirational content (Knowledge) and fun apparel and accessories
to remind you to stop and focus on the positive (Nudges) as we continue
to move forward with the Happy Fix mission of giving people the tools
to live a happier life.

In the meantime, take a moment to pause, watch the snow, and celebrate.

Stacy Menzies is Chief Happbassador at Happy Fix, a North Carolina-based positive
lifestyle company inspiring people to hit the reset button on happiness
and celebrating what's great in their lives. Her background includes
teaching high school, lobbying, and sales while raising two impressive
young men. Stacy is a graduate of the State University of New York at
Geneseo (B.A., Communication 1989) and East Carolina University (M.L.S.,
2008).

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